Say Something Daryl Dixon & Katniss Everdeen
by finock
Summary: A group of survivors must depend on each other for survival from a zombie apocalypse. (If you've watched both THG & TWD then you should be right at home.) The story mostly focuses on Daryl & Katniss' relationship. I love both of these characters equally and think that they have a lot of similarities. Please enjoy, follow, maybe review! Rated T for Guts & Language! (Slow updates!)
1. Chapter 1

[I do not claim to own any of these characters or plots. I simply want to mesh to beautiful human beings together. Read, enjoy, review!]

Another television broadcast scurried through the homes of families. The dead rose and ate anything that could move. At first it started with a couple but with time citizens realized that you turned into one of them by a bite or a scratch. People panicked, packed their things and drove to one of the "safety" cities where armed guards would save them from this apocalypse. Others didn't make it. Our tale focuses on a group that depended on each other for survival. We welcome you to some laughs, tears, and fear. Enjoy.

"Ain't that 'bout a bitch!" Daryl Dixon stepped on the deceased prey and retrieved his arrow.

"Aw, come on Little Brother. We could always cut around the bite." Daryl's brother, Merle, bent over to examine the deer's neck that had been ruptured off by some Walker.

"And what? Risk becoming one of them? Yeah, think I'll pass." Daryl returned his used arrow back into his crossbow. He was running low on ammo and the material he used to make his arrows weren't so easy to make.

"You ain't ever going to survive in this world if you continue being this much of a pussy." Merle carved his knife into the animals neck.

"Piss off" Daryl was quick to respond and walked away to hunt another creature.

The relationship the Dixon brothers had was strange compared to other families. They kept their distance from the rest of their group and wondered often into the forest. Both of the men planned to steal from their fellow friends once they fell asleep and disappear into the night. It wasn't kind of them to do but Merle insisted that none of them could be trusted and Daryl always listened to what his big brother had to say.

"I take it you don't want to share?" Merle's voice was distant the further Daryl got.

Soon the only noise he heard was the rhythm of his breath. Leaves cracked under his boots as he settled for a perfect spot. Multiple birds rested in the tree next to him. Two, three shots ought to get him a few birds before the entire flock flew away. Daryl carefully lifted his crossbow and took light breaths. His finger had just pressed on the trigger when another arrow pierced through the bird he had his eyes on. _Shit_! He thought. Quickly the birds did as he predicted and the strangers arrows kept knocking them one by one.

"I know damn well that you didn't fucking kill my prey!" Daryl pushed his crossbow onto one arm and stormed where the arrows came from. There was only one other person at his camp that handled arrows.

"Good morning to you too." Katniss Everdeen bent down to collect her kills and returned her used arrows back into her quiver.

"This is my area, girl! Best give that back to me!" Daryl wasn't great with others which meant that his conversations usually led to arguments.

"Funny. I distinctly remember you and your brother claiming Northwest, which I've stayed clear of, to only find you in my side. Got a bit lost, Dixon?" Her tone remained firm as she plucked the feathers off the dead carcass.

"You stole my breakfast" Daryl motioned to her hands.

"My arrow, my area, my kill." Daryl kept his mouth closed for a few seconds and thought what a big laugh his brother might have if he knew that he gave up this quickly.

"I'm about done with your sassy ass remarks, girl. Always making me and my brother look bad. How about you hand over the bird and we forget any of this happened." Usually Daryl always got what he wanted when he threatened someone but Katniss didn't flinch. She continued to pluck her food and looked rather bored.

"I ain't about to say it twice." Daryl stepped a few inches away from her with a bothered expression.

"You can repeat it three times and I still won't give you these." Katniss opened her messenger bag and placed the birds inside. Daryl's hand reached over but Katinss was quick and moved the bag behind her. "I was up before the sun came up. I tracked and hunt down these birds for two hours. I have a family to feed. So I know you must be joking if you think that I'm going to allow you to take my hunt away just to fulfill that ego of yours." Daryl chuckled and reached over for the bag again when Katniss' hand hovered over her small knife. "Back off, Dixon." Katniss wasn't much for violence but nothing would stop her from feeding her little sister.

"Girl, you got some balls to be threatening me. " The two locked eyes and stayed still for what it seemed minutes. Daryl could almost feel the air of her nostrils hit his face. Finally they were interrupted by Merle's laugh.

"You won't believe just how many of those suckers I just killed. One hand, also. Felt like I was in a goddamn movie." His voice got closer and the two hunters finally broke eye contact. Daryl knew exactly how the next step would play out. His brother would join them and well, Merle wasn't exactly much of a talker.

"Best get out of here" Daryl stepped back and swung his crossbow over his shoulder. Katniss nodded and walked the opposite direction. Daryl walked towards his brother, putting the girl in the back of his mind.

"What happened. Couldn't find your breakfast, Little Brother?" Merle ruffled Daryl's short hair as he chuckled. Daryl backed away from the touch.

"I had my damn breakfast until that piece of shit ate the crap out of it" He stormed off in hopes to find some animal close by. "Now you don't want to make an excuse for your failures." Merle laughed, skinning meat out of the deers leg that he held.

"Whatever" Daryl mumbled.

The brothers hunted for a few hours before they reached the camp. Some of their group surrounded the camp fire, laughing, like this was some goddamn joke. Daryl never understood the logic of society. He couldn't accept that the world was ending and yet they were pretending that everything was just fine.

"Dixon" Katniss' voice interrupted his thoughts. He turned and found her walking towards him.

"You again" He didn't have time to be mocked. Especially since his brother wasn't so far away.

"What a charmer." She grabbed something inside of her messenger bag and pulled out one of the birds. "Here" Daryl glared at the animal.

"What the hell is this for?" He nodded towards it, not lifting a finger to retrieve it.

"It's a gesture" She explained, still handing over the bird.

"For what?"

"Just take the bird, Dixon"

"I don't want your pity" Merle taught Daryl that the only reason people gave you anything was because they thought you needed help. In other words, you were weak.

"Take the fucking thing already." She felt stupid holding the carcass in the first place.

"Screw you" He shoved the bird out of his way and stepped closer towards Katniss. He lowered his voice and locked eyes with her. "You best hope that next time I'm as charming as I was today. Cause, baby, that was once in a lifetime. Don't stand between me and my food. Understood?" Daryl chest almost came in contact with hers. She didn't respond and that led Daryl to believe that he scared her off a bit. Proud of himself, Daryl walked away to only find something hit his back. He turned around and found the bird on the ground. Katniss fixed her messenger bag.

"Your half"

There wasn't a chance to start an argument once Merle's voice cut Daryl's train of thought. But still, Daryl bent down and picked up the dirty bird and had himself a nice cooked wing that night. He laid on the dirt, stared up at the stars and on occasionally looked at Katniss.


	2. Chapter 2

[I do not claim to own any of these characters or plots. I simply want to mesh two beautiful human beings together. Read, enjoy, review!]

* * *

Survival was embedded inside Katniss ever since her father passed away. The country was at war with the enemy and every man was encouraged to sign up. But being an ex-marine her father thought he was required to go. "Don't worry, Kat. I'll come back. Protect Prim and your mother, I'm counting on you." At eleven, Katniss took her responsibilities very seriously. Their family lived close to the mountains which meant that they regularly hunted for their meat and kept distance from their neighbors.

Katniss could still remember how her mother wailed the minute they received the news. Mrs Everdeen fell onto her knees and screamed to the ceiling. Prim was just a young thing and couldn't understand where her father left to. Katniss swallowed her sob and wrapped her small arms around her kid sister while their mother yelled out her husbands name. Then came the silence. Her mother glued herself to the bed and stared at the sky.

But eleven year old Katniss gripped her knife and headed towards the forest. Not a single tear was shed. _Why_, she would ask. Crying wouldn't bring him back. Feeling sorry for herself wouldn't either. She had her sister and apparently her mother to think about. Nothing else.

"See anything, Kat?" One of the older group members ask.

"Nothing but trees, Dale." Katniss stared off into the distance. Not a single walker had passed by in the last week. Usually it would be great news but not in their new world. In this world the dead popped in the time you'd least expected.

"Good. I'm heading to the lake until the next hour, then I'll come and release you. Sound good?" He stared up at her. Dale had a 1973 rusty RV that worked perfect as shelter but also had a great view of the woods.

"I'll be here." She responded back and sat onto the lawn chair they had on the RV's roof. Her bow and arrow was kept at an arms distance while she kept watch.

Their group was unusual with different ethnicities, opinions, and each person was required a job. Prim hung around the rest of the children. Her mother cooked any food that the gathers gave her. And Katniss hunted or at times, kept watch.

"Having fun up there?" The only Asian guy, and her only friend at the camp, poked his head out of the woods. Katniss had a difficult time making friends or even communicating with the others. She did well one on one but froze when the whole group huddled.

"Doesn't my smile say it all?" Katniss watched as Glenn climbed up the RV's ladder.

"All your face reactions all look the same."

"And that is?"

"Do you really want to know the answer?" Glenn asked with a serious tone.

Katniss kept quiet and broke a smile.

"What brings you up here?" She finally asked.

"Shane gave a speech about how we need more supplies and that we'll all die soon if we don't get moving. Yada-yada-yada. You know how it goes."

Shane, their leader. Or at least tried to be. He was elected because his work background; the sheriffs deputy. It all sounded like a great idea until his big speeches came along.

"I suppose he wants to go back into the city?" Katniss already knew what the answer was going to be.

"Yup. But apparently he's staying behind. Saying about how he needs to the camp safe."

"By banging Lori?" Katniss added.

One of the single mothers and Shane met in the woods every other hour to have a quickie and returned back into the camp. They'd both pretend that things between them weren't happening but the muffles told otherwise.

Glenn cracked a smile, "You coming or not?"

"Can't, I have to keep watch." That was partially the reason. But the truth was that Prim freaked out each time Katniss left. It was the constant worry that something bad would happen and also that Katniss had become a motherly figure to her sisters eyes.

"You really are a team player." Glenn teased and climbed back down. "Before I forget," his head popped from below. "was there anything you wanted from the city? A couple of girls want new clothes. Anything for you?"

"Rope, knives, barb wire, matche-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down, I meant shoes, clothes, funny hats, make up. I'm not so sure that I can carry those things and if I could, Shane would pro-"

"Then never mind. I don't need anything." Katniss cut Glenn off which caused her only friend to nod and walk away slowly.

The time ticked and finally Dale came to Katniss' rescue.

"Thank goodness." Katniss sighed and carried her bow as she climbed down.

Prim had gone off with the children to the lake which meant Katniss was able to wonder into the forest without any interruptions.

Glenn and a couple of other group members had already taken off. Shane was in the process of talking about what the "next move" was going to be when Katniss walked towards the woods.

For ten minutes Katniss walked. A few rabbits climbed inside their holes. Birds flew above her. But she seemed a bit uninterested in the possibility of her food source and continued on. Seven minutes passed and finally she stopped. In front of Katniss stood two trees that intertwined. It was quiet beautiful. She smiled and walked towards a loose log that laid fifteen feet near the trees. Once again, she looked around and knelt on the ground. Katniss placed her bow on the grass, lifted the log and counted her treasures. There laid two hunter knives, twenty arrows, and one machete. With a satisfying grin, Katniss grabbed five of arrows from her quiver and placed it along with her extras.

"What are you doing?" A familiar voice came from behind.

Scared she jumped up and turned immediately to find -

"Daryl! You scared me." Her hand pulled the log back to place and stood up.

"You storing for the winter, little squirrel?" He took a few steps forward.

"No"

"What is it you're hiding? Stealing supplies from the rest?"

Not technically. The last time Katniss went to the city, she nipped two hunting knives and just neglected to mention it.

"No"

Daryl stayed quiet. His hands had spots of dry blood which hopefully meant animals blood.

"Now you're not gonna talk? Just a couple days ago you were yellin in my ear." Daryl traced his eyes on the log and back to Katniss. "What you hidin, girl"?

"Nothing" Her answers could have been better but she was still in shock.

"Nothin my ass" Daryl bend down to lift the log and laughed at the stash. Usually she would have made a threatening comment but nothing popped to her head. "Holy fuck, girl. You have just about everything ready to create your own little ass army."

He grabbed one of the hunting knives and studied the curve at the tip.

"I haven't seen one of these in a long ass time. Gator hook, right?" He asked.

"Yeah, both of them are." She slipped the quiver back over her shoulder and cleared her throat.

"You plannin an attack against someone?"

"No. They're for an emergency"

The death of her fathers taught her a valuable lesson. Always be ready for the worse. The minute the broadcast hit of "the dead rising" was the second Katniss began packing. She had stored knives, a few guns in both her cars, moved back into her mothers house, and hid food supplies every place she could. A few of her friends told her that she was overreacting and perhaps in the moment, they were right. But, they were ready by the time walkers spread all over their town.

No walker had gone by their camp in the last two weeks but anything could happen. Meanwhile, Katniss began leaving weapons through the forest. A few guns were hidden another two miles away. Knives were kept twenty minutes from where she was. And every three days, Katniss made the same trip to check on her supplies. Of course Katniss didn't mention to Daryl that she had other stuff hidden.

"Not so bad of an idea. Anyone else knows about this?" He asked.

"Just you. If things go missing, I know who to blame."

"Don't you worry 'bout me, Darlin. I have my own stuff to worry about." Once Daryl's brother got back from the little trip to the city, the Dixon boys were going to rob the camp blind during the night. The only way he would take away Katniss' toys were if Daryl didn't find any good weapons.

"Good" Katniss kicked the log into place and took the bow in her hands.

Daryl was about to walk away when Katniss placed her hand on his shoulder.

"I mean it, Daryl." She didn't have the time or energy for an argument or threats.

"I know" One of the few times Katniss heard a sincere tone in his voice.

"Okay. Thank you."

"You finished huntin yet?" He asked.

"How'd you find this spot?" Katniss knelt in front of a rabbit hole.

Daryl had taken her to a meadow filled with rabbit holes. Typically she wouldn't have agreed to tag along but without Merle, Daryl wasn't a complete ass. At least not all the time.

"Found it two days ago when I was trying to find a place to piss in." _Charming_, she thought.

"These holes don't look more than a month old. Which means that these bastards are really deep in there." She felt the grass and stood back up.

"Speakin' of bastards." Daryl tapped on Katniss' shoulder and pointed. Out came a walker dragging its heavy legs out of the woods. Its jaw was ripped off, bloodshot eyes and made direct eye contact with both of them. The movements quickened and the grunts rippled through the meadow. Katniss grabbed her bow but Daryl was quick. He lifted his crossbow, aimed, and shot the walker on the head. The only spot to officially kill the dead.

"Great shot."

"Thanks. Third one this week."

"I got two just a couple days ago." Katniss added.

"Sumbitches keep getting closer." Daryl walked towards his arrow and retrieved it.

One of the few things Katniss and Daryl had in common were recycling their arrows.

"You gonna catch a couple of rabbits?"

"Not now. They won't come out with a bunch of noise. I'll just leave behind a couple of traps and hope that the geeks don't get to them." Katniss began collecting the items to make the traps and Daryl helped.

After half an hour later, they finished and started to head out.

"You know, Dixon. You're not that much of an asshole."

"You're still a pain in my ass." His pace got a little faster but Katniss swore that she saw a smile on his face. "We comin back tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, you can tag along."

Together they shot down a couple of birds and walked to camp.

"Guess I'll see you tomorrow?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah, guess so."

The two gave each other a nod and went opposite directions.

But, the camp were all huddled together. Prim poked her mothers arms and ran towards Katniss. Without hesitation, Katniss wrapped her arms around her sister and kissed the top of her head.

"What's going on, Prim?"

"They came back from the city." If it was good news then why would they be in a huddle?

"Did Glenn come back?" Maybe Prim pitied her sister and wanted to comfort her before the group told her about the death. "Go back to mom, I'll meet you later." Katniss let go of her and jogged towards the crowd. In the middle of the talk, Glenn was present.

She sighed with relief and Glenn noticed her.

"Hey"

"Don't scare me that way" She smacked his arm.

"First, ow. Second, why? You'd miss me too much?" He teased.

"Shut up. What happened? Why is everyone in a circle?"

"Good news is that we rescued a guy."

Great, another body to know in with the rest of them. Another name to remember.

"Okay?" Katniss still didn't see the big deal.

"Apparently he's Carl's dad and Lori's husband. Oh, and also Shane's best friend." Her eyes widen and looked over to the reunited family. The three of them were hugging, crying, laughing together.

"Wow. That's something."

"Yeah. But, there's some bad news."

"How is there bad news?"

"Merle got left behind."

That's why everyone was huddled. They were all deciding how they would tell Daryl. Almost everyone was nervous to even glance over at the Dixon boys. No one had the balls to comfort them.

"Great" Katniss ran her fingers through her hair.

"We're just trying to figure out how we're going to tell him."

"Don't worry. I have this." Even if Merle was a dick, Daryl still loved his brother.

Katniss took a deep breath and walked towards Daryl and Merle's small tent.


	3. Chapter 3

[I do not claim to own any of these characters or plots. I sometimes put a few quotes from the episodes and blend them on my chapters. I simply want to mesh two beautiful human beings together. Read, enjoy, review!]

* * *

Just another twenty steps and Katniss would have arrived to Daryl's tent, but the newcomer grabbed her arm.

"Now just hold on a minute." Lori's husband calmly said. He had a sheriffs uniform on, shirt unbuttoned to the middle, and just a few blood stains along his arm.

"Look, I'm a little busy at the mome-"

"I know what you're about to do. Let me." The guy had just been reunited with his family and already he was stepping in the way.

"I got it, Rick." Shane was already walking towards them.

Katniss rolled her eyes and looked at both of them. "What's the big deal in me telling him?"

"You weren't there." Shane responded.

"And neither were you." She was quick to comment.

"Alright, let's not do anything rash. I'm the reason why Merle got stranded -" Rick got cut off by T-Dog.

"Nah, it's my fault. Look if anyone is going to take the fall for it. It's going to be me. I lost the key."

"I don't think it'd look too good coming from someone that isn't white." Glenn cut in.

The whole group seemed to have merged over towards the rest of the group when Daryl stepped out.

"The hell are y'all doin' outside my tent?!"

The group remained silent for a good few seconds before Shane opened his mouth.

"There were a few complications in Atlanta."

Once the city was mentioned, Daryl searched through the groups faces in hopes to find his brother. Any families worst fear is listening to the death of your loved one.

"He dead?" Daryl cleared his throat to cover the crack in his words.

"Not so sure." Shane responded.

"Hell does that mean? Either he is or ain't." Daryl's tone rose.

"Look, there's no easy way to explain it so I'll be frank," Rick stepped in now. "You out of all people should know that your brother was a handful... Well, uh, push came to shove and I handcuffed him to a piece of metal up on the roof. He's still might be up there."

Daryl rubbed his head, blowing steam out of his nose as he paced back and forth.

"Let me process this. You're saying that you left my brother up on the roof? And left him there?!"

Rick nodded in silence.

Daryl stood still, calm but quickly ran towards Rick. But in a blink of an eye, Shane had a tight lock on Daryl's head. The two wrestled until Shane had him on chokehold. Katniss almost wanted to step in and defend Daryl. If the tables were turned, Katniss would have hit anything that passed her.

"We're gonna have a calm discussion here." Rick bent down to eye level with Daryl while he breathed heavily. "You can't sit there and tell me that your brother plays well with others. He didn't give me an alternative."

Maybe it was the chokehold that calmed Daryl's breathing but all he did was sit on the ground when Shane let go of him.

"Hell with all of y'all!" Daryl pushed himself up.

"I'm the one that dropped the key." T-Dog said.

"You couldn't picked it up?" He asked.

"It went down the drain. But I put a padlock so the walkers couldn't get to it."

"It has to count for something." Rick added.

Daryl took deep breaths and rubbed the back of his head. "Just tell me where he is so's I can go get him."

"He'll show you. Won't you?" Lori interrupted Rick before he opened his mouth. All of the group looked at her and surprisingly, Rick nodded.

"Yeah, I will."

* * *

"Hurry it up!" Daryl yelled once he loaded his crossbow the new U-haul they brought from the city.

"I don't want you to go." Prim was holding on to Katniss for the passed half an hour.

"I have to, Prim." Katniss said for the millionth time.

She didn't necessarily have to but she wanted. If it were Prim out by herself, she'd want all the support she could get. The others didn't seem really supportive that there was a rescue team for Merle Dixon.

"Can't you stay?" Prim followed her sister around while Katniss stuffed her extra arrows inside her quiver. Now she regretted putting the extra five arrows inside her safety pit.

"I'll come back. You can play with Carl and the others." Her sister and Carl had a very unique friendship that it was almost cute to watch them run around.

"But-"

"I'll be back, don't worry. Stay close to mom and the others and don't go into the woods without an adult present. Alright?" Prim nodded which gave Katniss the okay to leave.

"You comin'?" Daryl asked when Katniss stepped behind the U-haul.

"You don't want me to come, Dixon?" She asked.

"Do whatever you want." He sighed and sat on the floor.

"It's not me that you should be mad at."

"I ain't mad" Daryl placed his crossbow next to him.

* * *

The drive to the city took a good hour from their camp. T-Dog was sitting in between Glenn and Rick in the front while Daryl and Katniss sat in the back by themselves.

"Would you be mad?" Daryl asked Katniss. They were the first words he's said since they left camp.

Katniss thought long and hard of her answer. Finally she said-

"I'd be pissed." That was the truth. The whole reason of them all 'sticking together' and becoming a group was having each others back. Merle was a complicated man but he was still a person. They might as well have killed him instead of stranding him on some rooftop, padlock or not.

Daryl sighed loudly and placed his head against the truck.

"We'll save him." Katniss whispered.

Daryl looked over at her, grabbed his crossbow as he felt the U-haul coming to a stop.

"Never make promises you ain't sure of." Katniss stared at him for a moment before taking the bow into her hands.

"This place is probably crawling with walkers since we last came. We need to be smart about this. No one storms into a room alone, understood?" The new sheriff gave them all instructions. While the rest nodded along, Daryl huffed and stood up.

Glenn parked a couple of blocks away from the building saying it wouldn't cause a distraction that would lead the walkers towards them. They jogged for a few minutes, hiding from any geek they came across. Rick said it'd be better for them to keep all the ammo they could.

Two minutes later they arrived to the backdoor of the building. Rick glanced around before opening the door and looked at each of his group members.

"No one tries to be a hero. We all stick together. Daryl and Katniss, I trust you take down any walkers we see. Glenn, you stay by me and T-Dog, I want you on my other side." Katniss rolled her eyes at the directions she was given.

"Do you have a problem with that, Ms. Everdeen?"

"No, sir" The hint of sarcasm almost made Rick Grimes to put her in her place but time was running short.

"Ready...1, 2.." Rick nodded the mumbled the last number as he opened the door. As planned, Glenn and T-Dog followed next to Rick's side as they made their way through the first floor.

Three shots came from Daryl's crossbow to different walkers that appeared. Katniss took out two that had a little more speed. Katniss retreieved her arrows from the victims head and proceeded upstairs along with the rest of the group. She had Glenn and the rest of them behind her as she walked up the stairs backwards. She shot a couple of more arrows at a few walkers down below and reached to her quiver to only feel less than twenty arrows. Katniss drew a long breath and glanced back to check how many steps there were left and decided to stop from shooting.

"What the..." Katniss turned around when she heard Daryl's words and saw the padlock. Broken. _How the hell was that possible_?

"I swear I locked it!" T-Dog yelled as Daryl gripped his shirt.

"Now calm down. Let's all take a dang breath here." Rick came between the two men.

"Y'all better hope he still alive. That's all I'm saying." Daryl threatened and stormed through the door.

"I'd get to running if I were you." Katniss said, following Daryl and had the three guys right behind her.

"Oh no! No! NO!" Daryl was screamed and kicked anything in his path. It wasn't long until the rest of the group saw a freshly cut out hand on the ground along with the handcuff.

"I'll kill you!" Daryl raised his crossbow to T-Dog, ready to shoot.

"Put it down" Rick was quick and drew his gun towards Daryl. "I said put it down!" Rick walked closer.

Katniss glanced back and forth, wondering what the hell she could do to calm everyone down and not have anyone get killed in the process. She could have just taken Prim's advice and stayed home. Then she wouldn't have to worry about this.

"Killing each other won't help. Daryl, we'll find Merle. I'll stay until we do. I promise." She walked a step closer with every word until her hand was placed on his crossbow, pushing it away from T-Dog.

"I didn't mean t-" T-Dog started to speak and would have caused Daryl to raise his firearm again but Katniss spoke first.

"I'd stay away and keep quiet if I were you. In fact, you all should leave."

"What?" All the men were overlapping and growing confused together.

"Look, it's obvious none of you want to be here. Plus, I'm sure Daryl doesn't want T-Dog here and Rick's family is probably worried as hell. Glenn, you'll only slow both Daryl and I down."

They all stayed quiet. Which meant that she was most likely right.

"Daryl, you want us to leave?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, do me a lot better."

After a long discussing on the roof, the three men climbed back on the U-haul and drove back to their campsite. Katniss and Daryl watched in silence until finally-

"Ya didn't have to stay" Daryl said

"I know. Now come on, let's get started." She tugged on his arm, walking back into the building and follow the blood trace Merle left behind.

"What 'bout your sister?"

"I told Glenn to keep an eye on her. I trust him."

"I guess" Daryl muttered behind her.

Together they followed the blood to a room where the window was wide open with splatters of blood continuing on.

"Your brother is a tough son of a bitch" Katniss sighed, making Daryl smile.


	4. Chapter 4

"Now wait a damn moment." Daryl said as he climbed out of the window right after Katniss.

"What?" She stared down the external stairs, observing the trail of blood streaming down the alley.

"You sure you don't wanna get goin'?" It was the 4th time he asked in less than ten minutes and her response was always the same, a single stare.

"Alright, alright. I just don't want you yapping 'bout how I forced you to stay-"

"Shut up, Dixon. Just help me find your brother so I can go back to camp and take care of my sister." She walked down a couple of steps with her arrow in hand ready for any walkers to pop out of random places.

Daryl rolled his eyes, following behind with crossbow at hand looking around.

"How'd you get good at tracking?" Daryl asked a when they reached the end of the alley.

Katniss raised her finger to her lips and pointed. Daryl stuck his head out and found 10 walkers scattered in the street. Just with a nod Katniss quietly jogged across the street into another alley with Daryl following right after. The two stopped next to a trash bin away from the entrance to the alley.

"We have three hours to search before we have to take shelter. Snooping around here at night gets me nervous so we either hurry our asses up or we'll be eaten ourselves. I suggest we head on over to those apartments three streets down within the hour and search if there's any room we can stay at." Katniss whispered keeping her eyes peeled at the streets as she talked.

Daryl squinted his eyes looking at the woman barking orders and sighed, giving a single nod.

"Yes ma'am."

There was no point in arguing when he knew how risky things got after dark. Plus, neither of them had remembered to bring a flashlight so the apartments was their best bet.

After an hour and a half of searching the duo had no luck in finding Merle. Instead they found a small apartment up on the fourth floor. They cleared the place in less than five minutes locking the doors with a stove and dryer for safety right behind them. The bed was filled with blood so they decided to stay in the living room on the pull out bed the couch had.

"You gotta be kiddin' me." Daryl rolled his eyes.

Katniss had suggested in sleeping on the floor for the millionth time.

"You wanna hurt that back of yours then whatever. I'm gonna be on this here bed sleeping soundly not giving a rats ass that you're miserable during the night." Daryl happily sighed laying down on the mattress and stretched his arms to the sky.

Katniss sighed, rolling her eyes as she picked up her sweater from the floor and dropped the fabric on the bed. She created a small pillow with it crawling right next to Daryl. She immediately rested her eyes when she placed her head on the pillow. It had been ages since she last slept on a mattress. They had sleeping bags for the first months the apocalypse began but now had nothing and settled for the ground.

"Never thought I'd be sleeping next to you." She admitted.

"Consider yourself lucky, darlin." Daryl grinned.

Katniss rolled her eyes not believing that she got herself into this mess. Only if she kept her mouth shut she could have been in her tent with her sister resting.

"Don't start gropin' me in your sleep, darlin'. If you gonna touch me do it while I'm awake. I wanna be con-"

"Just shut up, Dixon. I swear the next time you say anything related to me groping you I'm either going to find my own room to sleep in or your ass is going to be hanging off the balcony."

Daryl sighed heavily as a response.

An hour sped by of the two hunters laying next to each other silently pretending to be asleep when finally Daryl spoke.

"Still makes no sense on why the hell you came with me. Thought you hated my guts."

"That doesn't mean I can't come with." Stated Katniss.

"What's in it for you? What you got a bet goin' on with someone. Tell me why you wanted to come along so damn badly?"

Katniss thought for a second.

"I came with because if my sister went missing I would want any help I could get." She admitted.

Usually she hated other people and did anything possible to avoid conversations with the group but in a crisis they would be her best bet. Daryl stayed quiet.

"If it were the other way around... I woulda stayed back at the camp."

"No you wouldn't"

Daryl looked over to Katniss with a frown.

"You're many things, Daryl. You're an asshole, uneducated hick, and a dipshit at times. But cruel isn't you." Katniss glued her eyes to the ceiling.

It was rare for her to give out compliments so he'd better take advantage. The two said nothing. Instead Daryl turned on his side, having his back face Katniss and looked at the wall with a small smile imprinted on his lips.

The night sped by quickly giving Daryl and Katniss plenty of time to rest and prepare for the morning. Both of them snuck behind walkers and kept away from herds that always formed on the main streets. They went from building to building empty handed. The temperature rose making it impossible for them to continue running through the cramped alleys.

"What's your plan, Dixon?" Katniss whispered when they cleared out one of the rooms.

"Whata mean?" Daryl frowned.

"Where to? East? West? How many buildings do we have to look or when are we heading bac-"

"Hey, if you don't wanna be here anymore then you can ge-"

"Relax. I'm not saying anything. I just want to know what the hell the plans are before I run out of ammo and start making my own damn weapons."

Daryl rolled his eyes, ignoring the question and looked down at the streets from the window.

"How long?" Katniss pressed.

"Until I find my brother! I don't need your ass, if you wanna get then get. Ain't no one holdin' you back." Daryl pushed through the next room shooting his arrow through the skull of a walker that popped into the door.

"Calm down" Katniss glanced different locations to check if any walkers heard the yelling.

"Don't tell me whata do, girl!" Daryl stepped forward, eyes flashing red.

The day was long, Daryl's worry for his brother got worse, and to top it all off he was being ordered around by some girl.

"I'm not going to tell you again." Katniss kept her voice low.

Daryl stared her down.

"Or what?"

Katniss didn't hesitate in raising her small handgun that she kept on her waist. She pressed the weapon right against his forehead.

"Don't test me, Dixon." She mumbled.

"You won't." He said confidently.

"You sure about that? I've shot a lot of people that I care about. After the fifth kill to a very close friend of mine, I've become really numb to this sort of shit. So I suggest you take a fucking breather and calm the hell down before you kill both of us. Understand?" Katniss clicked off the safety, pressing the weapon deeper into his skin.

Daryl breathed deeply, nodding once and backed away from her.

"How about you lower the gun then?" He asked.

"The gun stays up until I see that you calmed down." Katniss responded quickly.

Daryl leaned against the wall, closing his eyes and breathed slowly to relax his anger. He placed his palms on his knees, bending over and exhaled loudly. From the looks of things they weren't going to find Merle anytime soon. The city was huge and it would be impossible to pass through all the walkers without getting caught. Merle was a tough son of a bitch. If anybody could make it in this horrid world, it'd be him. There'd be a huge chance that he probably headed back to their camp or went down fighting. But the idea of his brother lying in a street somewhere ripped apart didn't set well with Daryl. Instead he shook his head, inhaled deeply and looked up at Katniss. She had already lowered the gun and walked two steps to him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"We'll keep searching."

"The city is too big. It's impossible." Daryl frowned.

"We'll give it another day. Tomorrow we can go a little further north. There's some apartments that he could have gone to." She suggested.

"What about your sister?" He knew how important her little sister was to her. He didn't want to be the reason to keep them away from each other.

"I guess you owe me one." She shrugged, heading out the door.

Daryl smirked, following Katniss.


	5. Chapter 5

There wasn't enough hours in the day. The duo had to find alleys or climb roofs to avoid packs of geeks. They finally found a convenience store before the night settled in and had nasty snacks to feed on.

"I'd kill for a Big Mac right about now." Daryl mumbled as he took a bite out of a snickers bar.

Katniss rolled her eyes opening her messenger bag to stuff the rest of candy bars that were left behind. Sure they were probably already expired but it was either this or slowly starving themselves. Surprisingly all the beer and cigarettes were wiped clean. Obviously people assumed that being drunk through this apocalypse was more important than staying alive. Once her bag was filled with goodies she zipped it back, grabbing the last bag of fritos stuffing it in the front pocket of her bag.

"You all done over there?" Daryl asked.

Katniss glanced around at the broken in store.

"Let me just check something out." She said.

She walked towards the back aisle to check what was left on the shelves. There were a few boxes of Advil and Benadryl and one last Tylenol that were scattered on the ground. She leaned down picked them up and slipped them into her pockets. Just before she left the aisle something caught her eye. Just five boxes of pads and three small boxes of tampons. She let a small laugh out and ran towards the back of the counter grabbing the biggest paper bag the store carried and ran towards the back piling the supplies into the bag. She might as well take anything feminine. Just a few seconds later she finished up closing the bag up with Daryl showing up a second later. His puzzled face looked at the empty shelf but he suddenly had a grin on his face.

"What?" She asked.

"You planning something for tonight, Darlin?" He kept grinning.

Suddenly she grew confused finally following his gaze. She rolled her eyes once she saw them.

"You really think I packed condoms, Dixon?"

"Why not? The nights get lonely and I bet you're think that you can get lucky tonight-"

"Stop. Just stop. Do you want to see what I packed?" She asked opening the bag as she spoke. She lifted it showing him the objects inside.

His grin disappeared from his face and into a look of disgust.

"We don't have time for you to have fun shoppin. You about done?" His asked annoyingly.

"Wait. Did you think that I wanted to have se-"

"Let's go. Stop wastin my damn time." He began to walk away until he suddenly stopped.

Daryl took a few steps backward, grabbing two packs of condoms and turned his head to look at Katniss winking right after.

She had no time to argue with him and gave a last look at the shelves to see if there was anything useful. The two left after they left the store empty and retrieved back to the apartment. They blocked the front door again and both dropped bags of what they collected today. In Katniss' bag was supplies of food, medicine, things for her period, shirts, a pair of pants, socks, and a small knife that she found along small stores. Daryl however had collected very few things. He had grabbed just a shirt, leather jacket, chocolate bars, and condoms.

"You want dinner?" Katniss asked tossing the frito bag onto the coffee table.

"Good enough for me." He opened the bag.

She walked to the kitchen opening the cupboards. Chips weren't exactly the fanciest food to eat but they hadn't ate off a proper plate in over three years. Eventually it's the small things you start missing. Katniss came back with two plates and cups. She set them down filling the cups with blue Gatorade. Daryl wasn't complaining. He poured a good enough pile of chips into the plate and poured the rest into Katniss' plate. The two remained silent for a few minutes while they enjoyed a very small dinner.

"First thing tomorrow we're headin back." Daryl broke the silence.

"We still haven't covered the west side-"

"I appreciate you tryin help. But, we ain't going nowhere and I don't wanna keep you away from your sister any longer. Merle is a tough sonabitch." Daryl cleared his throat taking the last sip of his drink.

Katniss nodded.

"Tomorrow we'll cover a few more blocks and head home." She said.

The chances of finding Merle were very slim but they could bring more supplies to their camp.

"We'll gather all we can and take a U-haul that's just a few blocks away from where we parked when we came with the group. That way we get back at a good time." Katniss continued.

Daryl nodded standing up and returned his plates back into the kitchen. It wasn't that he was being civil, he just didn't want Katniss to see him shed a tear. Katniss remained in the living room while Daryl walked through the rest of the house. They didn't have much of a chance to rummage through it yesterday so he thought that it would give him a chance to focus on other things rather than to think of his missing brother. He opened the hallway closet picking up a hiking backpack. He checked inside and found it empty._ Of course_, he thought. The couple that lived here probably didn't have much time to pack and died before leaving their apartment complex. Daryl looked up at the top shelf to find a deck of cards, a think blanket, two books, flashlight, and rags. He put each item inside the bag making his way into the restroom next. There he found a 20 pack of soap bar, shampoo, a his and her towel, two razors, toothpaste, and half an empty deodorant. He slipped everything inside and worked his way into the bedroom now.

Meanwhile, Katniss counted each item she picked up today to check if everything could be spilt up equally in their group and still have extra for them. Unfortunately, some people wouldn't get anything. _Great_, she thought.

"Hey" Daryl came back into the living room.

"Yeah?" Katniss glanced up.

"Come here"

Katniss followed him into the bedroom. Apparently, Daryl had placed the shower curtain over the bloody mattress having bath towels on top of that. Katniss smiled glancing over to Daryl who seemed proud of his work.

"It's gonna be a hell of a lota comfortable than the damn couch." He pulled the blanket he grabbed from the closet on top of the mattress.

"You can sleep here. I'll just sleep on the pull out be-"

"The hell you are. Sleep on this here bed and enjoy it. I did shit to you last night so why doubt me now?" Daryl rose his eyebrows.

She sighed, nodding after.

"We'll keep the door locked and put the bed against it so nothin comes in during the night. Bring your shit and set it next to you." He said.

"How charming." She hid a smile retrieving her bags from the living room.

After they locked and jammed the bedroom door with the bed, they both slipped their shoes off and laid on the mattress.

"Shiiiit" Daryl groaned.

"What?" She frowned settling next to him.

"I miss havin a damn bed." He whispered removing his shirt.

"What are you doing?" She sat up.

"Gettin comfortable. What's it look like? You don't gotta look at me." He tossed the shirt on the ground. "You interested, darlin?" He smirked.

"Stop." She rolled her eyes settling her head on the pillow.

She closed her eyes for a second loving this feeling.

"Want me to get those condoms, darlin?" He asked, ruining her moment.

"I'm gonna kick your ass, Dixon."

"Mmm, I love when you threaten me." He teased.

He knew which buttons to press. He loved making her mad. It was just so easy.

Katniss' lips formed a smile looking over to him.

"You're such an ass." She playfully slapped his chest. He bursted a small laugh.

"You like it." He replied.

She wouldn't admit it to him or even herself. But, she loved each moment they spent together. The moment felt normal. But feeling like this away from her family made her feel guilty so she turned away from him. Making herself fall asleep.

[Sorry for not posting! Got busy with school, work, life, etc. Can't promise to update anytime soon! But, I'm not going to stop. I'm probably only going to write 12 chapters so stay tuned!)


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